Kettle grill and ash-catcher assembly therefor

Abstract

A barbecue kettle grill including an ash-catcher assembly for catching ash and debris falling through a centrally disposed opening in the bottom of the kettle is disclosed. The ash-catcher assembly further allows the opening and closing of an air draft in the bottom of the kettle. The kettle further includes a lid catch bracket for hanging the kettle lid on the base of the kettle when not in use, one or more handles having a substantially hollow interior supported by internal support ribs and attached to the kettle with insulating washers disposed therebetween in order to minimize heat transfer to the handles. The kettle grill further includes four legs comprised of two-legged tubular members, each having an attachment flange joining the two legs for attachment to the base of the kettle.

We claim: 
     
       1. A barbecue grill assembly comprising a, grill base for containing a heat source, a plurality of legs supporting the base, and a grilling surface positioned on the base above the heat source, an ash-catcher assembly comprising an ash-catcher pan positioned below an opening in the grill base, said opening being sized and positioned to allow ashes from said heat source to fall through said opening and into said ash-catcher pan, means for adjusting said ash-catcher pan in a vertical direction to vary the size of an opening formed between said ash-catcher pan and said grill base, said ash catcher tray including a handle for moving said ash-catcher pan to a closed air draft positioned and an open air draft position with respect to the opening in said grill base. 
     
     
       2. The ash-catcher assembly of claim 1 wherein said ash-catcher pan is supported below said grill base by bracket means comprising a plurality of brackets spaced about the periphery of said opening in said base. 
     
     
       3. The ash-catcher assembly of claim 2 wherein said means for adjusting said ash-catcher pan includes at least one lip about the periphery of said pan, said lip having a taper defined by a wide end tapering to a narrow end, said wide end corresponding with said closed air draft position, each of said brackets having a pan lip engaging flange, said engaging flange having a taper substantially corresponding to said taper of said pan lip, said engaging flange adapted to slidably support said pan lip. 
     
     
       4. The ash-catcher assembly of claim 3 wherein said pan lip has a first stop at the wide end and a second stop at the narrow end for limiting slidable movement of said pan with respect to said pan lip engaging flange. 
     
     
       5. The ash catcher assembly of claim 4 wherein said ash-catcher pan includes a plurality of tapering lips about the periphery of said pan, each said tapering lip being separated by an incursion of sufficient width to allow said ash-catcher pan to drop past said pan lip engaging flanges for removal of said ash-catcher pan. 
     
     
       6. A barbecue grill assembly as in claim 1 further comprising, a plurality of legs connected to said base, a lid, a grid for supporting food above a heat source contained in said base. 
     
     
       7. The kettle grill of claim 6, further including a lid catch bracket mounted to the internal surface of said lid, said bracket comprising a pair of hooked portions connected by a mounting flange to said lid. 
     
     
       8. The kettle grill of claim 6, further including at least on handle attached thereto, said handle comprising a phenolic material having a substantially hollow interior supported by a plurabilty of internal support ribs, said handle being separated from said kettle by a heat insulating washer. 
     
     
       9. The kettle grill of claim 6, said legs comprising one or more two-legged tubular members, each said tubular member having an attachment flange joining the two legs comprising each said two-legged tubular member, said attachment flange conforming to a lower surface of said base and adapted to be fastened thereto.